1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates to walking or sports footwear, whether referred to as shoes or boots, more particularly footwear intended for traversing flat or mountainous terrain, for use with a skateboard, a snowboard, skis or snowshoes, or for practicing a ball-playing sport, for example, as well as for other uses and activities.
2. Background Information
To make footwear adapted to the aforementioned practices and activities, it is known to use an outer sole assembly and a footwear element. Such element itself includes an envelope, which is part of the boot upper, and an inner sole, which may be a lasting board or a Strobel lasting board, depending upon the technique employed. A lasting board is affixed to the envelope by gluing, whereas a Strobel lasting board is affixed to the envelope by stitching. In any case, the footwear element thus obtained is affixed to the outer sole assembly by any suitable means, such as by gluing, nesting, or the like.
To provide the footwear with a satisfactory level of comfort, an insole is positioned within the footwear element, so as to cover the lasting board or Strobel lasting board. The insole also typically covers the junction between the lasting board or Strobel lasting board and the envelope.
Thus, the shoe obtained is satisfactory in most cases, especially in the sense that it provides a certain comfort to the foot. There are, however, several drawbacks.
For example, during extreme or prolonged use, small injuries may occur in the area the user's foot. Indeed, the insole may for example move undesirably inside the footwear element. Also, the contact between the user's foot and the footwear element is sometimes not uniform. Therefore, even when properly provided, comfort is not maximal.
Another drawback of the aforementioned articles of footwear lies in their relative complexity. This complexity is primarily considered in the sense that several different soles are required to form the complete sole assembly, as well as several parts, including quarters, a stiffener, a vamp, or a tongue to form the envelope of the footwear element. In other words, a large number of parts is required to manufacture the such footwear. The complexity can also be considered in the sense that a large set of tools is required to prepare the parts, a large amount of time is required for assembly, and that the nature of the assembly work itself is complex. In addition, such complexity, or complexities, cause production costs to be increased.